


The Simple Things

by Nakeycatstakebaths



Category: The 100 (TV), The 100 Series - Kass Morgan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Art Teacher Clarke, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Found Family, Jordan is Bellamy's biological son, Kid Fic, Madi is Clarke's biological daughter, No mention of the pandemic, Quarantine, Sibling Bonding, Single Mom Clarke, book agent bellamy, lockdown - Freeform, lots and lots of fluff, lots of cuteness, single dad bellamy, social distancing, this fic only talks about being stuck at home, zoom birthday party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:28:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26189524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakeycatstakebaths/pseuds/Nakeycatstakebaths
Summary: There’s moving too fast and then there’s moving in with someone who you’ve only been dating for six months—with your kid.But nothing about Clarke and Bellamy’s relationship feels like it’s moving too quickly, if anything, this relationship is what they’ve spent their whole lives looking for and it’s just too serendipitous to pass up.So when the world tilts on its axis, the decision to quarantine together feels like the most natural choice. But of course, everything has its downsides—and it’s beautiful moments, the ultimate task is finding excitement in the space between.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 97
Kudos: 340
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [infieldsofgold](https://archiveofourown.org/users/infieldsofgold/gifts).



> Written as part of t100writersforblm (formerly @bellarkfic4blm) for @Fan4Life on Tumblr! Thank you for this fun prompt, it was very cute. I hope you like where I went with this. 
> 
> Prompt: Write about some cute family moments while being in lockdown. Zoom bday parties, baking, etc. 
> 
> Out of respect for the current situation, there is minimal/no mention of the current public health situation or the virus in any form during this fic. This is not a fic about the pandemic specifically. However with that being said, if you are particularly affected by this subject matter this might not be the fic for you.

_December 5, 2019_

Bellamy reached across the table, taking Clarke’s hand in his own. He was nervous—his stomach had been in knots all day. There were so many ways this could go wrong, they just started dating. But he hadn’t felt like this about someone in a long time. 

Not since Gina. 

Part of Bellamy had always been worried that he would never be able to fall in love again, that he was just destined to spend the rest of his life alone. 

Most of the time, he was okay with it, understood that maybe that was the path that life intended for him. But he couldn’t deny that he was lonely, that he wanted someone to come home to. 

Clarke was everything he’d always been looking for, smart and funny and adventurous. Ten minutes into their first date, he knew they had something special. 

But of course, life was never that simple. 

“I need to tell you something,” he began, rubbing his thumb over her knuckles. “It’s kind of important.” 

Clarke’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline, her hand stiffening in his as she slowly put her glass of wine down on the table. 

He swallowed thickly, the longer he dragged this out, the more likely this was going to go poorly. 

“I’m a dad. I have two kids—“ he said, bracing himself for her to squirm awkwardly and for the date to fizzle the way it had with so many other women. 

But to his surprise, she started laughing. 

A full-bodied laugh, so intense she had to pull her hand away from his to cover her mouth. 

“I uh—“ 

Bellamy didn’t know what to do. This had never happened before. Usually, if things were going to go south, he would get a few awkward questions about his kids, and then the date would quickly end. 

But Clarke was still laughing nearly a minute later. 

“I’m so sorry,” she choked out, taking a sip of wine to clear her throat. “Dating at our age leads to a lot of psychos, and I literally thought you were going to tell me you were a sex offender!” 

He ran his hand through his curls, a wave of relief flowing through him when he realized she wasn’t mad or freaked out and ready to run away. 

“And then—you have kids. And I mean, I’ve been sitting here all night, barely paying attention to the conversation because I really like you. I was trying to figure out a way to tell you,” she continued, rambling a little as she played with the edge of her napkin. “But I have a kid too.” 

And now it was Bellamy’s turn to laugh. 

Clarke had a kid. 

All his toiling and worrying and calls to Octavia for reassurance were basically for nothing. They were even more alike than he’d thought. 

“You’re joking,” he chuckled, sitting back in his chair relaxed for the first time in what felt like days. 

“I’ve been trying to figure out a way to tell you, but I didn’t want to freak you out,” she nodded, picking up her phone and scrolling through it. “This is Madi, she’s five.” 

Bellamy took the phone, smiling down at a picture of a little blue-eyed girl with wild brown curls and a gap-toothed smile. 

“She’s adorable,” he grinned, handing the phone back to her before digging for pictures of his own. “This is Jordan and Augustus. Jordan is seven, and Auggie turned three last month.” 

Clarke grinned at the picture, commenting on the boys’ Halloween costumes. 

She seemed more relaxed too, and Bellamy couldn’t help but fall for her just a little more. 

It really did feel like it was meant to be. 

“A house full of boys,” Clarke said, raising an eyebrow as she handed him back the phone. “Never a dull day, I assume.” 

“You would be correct,” he nodded, taking her hand once again. “It’s been the three of us against the world for a while now.” 

Clarke paused at that, taking in the implication of what he said. He’d never gotten this far before, far enough to need to clarify that he was windowed and not divorced. But after a long pause, she nodded, squeezing his hand a little tighter. 

“It’s kind of always been just Madi and me. It’s not easy doing it alone, but it’s fun most days,” she agreed, still smiling at him. 

And for the first time in a very long time, Bellamy felt like a lucky man. 

***

January 30, 2020

“Madi!! I’m gonna take Auggie over to see the Zamboni! Do you wanna come?” Jordan asked, pulling his brother across the ice. 

He held his other hand out for Madi to take, leading both her and Auggie toward the corner of the rink. 

The whole thing made Clarke oddly emotional. She never expected the kids to take to one another so quickly. 

It felt too good to be true—Bellamy, his kids, the way they all just kind of fit together. 

“This is pretty great,” Bellamy murmured, coming up behind her and wrapping her in a hug. 

She leaned back, enjoying the embrace, letting herself live in this moment that she never believed she would get to have. 

“I’m really happy,” Clarke admitted, turning to press a kiss to Bellamy’s jaw. 

“Me too.” 

They untangled eventually, keeping their hands clasped together as they watched the kids stumble around on the ice. 

It was like they’d known each other for their entire lives, the way Madi fixed Jordan’s hat or how Auggie clasped tightly to the hem of Madi’s jacket. 

When Bellamy suggested they introduce the kids to each other, she was worried they were moving too fast, that everything was going to come crashing down around them. 

But they took to one another so quickly, Clarke didn’t want to rush things—or put all her eggs in one basket, but they made sense together, the five of them. 

Jordan took care of Madi like she was his own little sister, and she, in turn, babied Auggie constantly. It was heartwarming to see her interact like this with other kids. With having no siblings or cousins, Clarke always worried Madi would never get to form bonds like this. 

Even with the knowledge that all of it could slip away, with the fear that this would break both her and her daughter’s heart—Clarke couldn’t help but feel hopeful. 

Something about her and Bellamy felt different, like he was a piece of her that she’d always been missing. It was never awkward or uncomfortable, there were times where she felt like she’d known him for her entire life. 

Almost like he could read her mind, he pulled them both to a stop, a few feet away from the kids. 

Gently, he cupped her jaw, pressing the softest kiss she’d ever been given to her lips. 

“I love you,” he said, pulling just far enough away to meet her eyes. 

With a final peck, he winked at her—not bothering to wait for a response. Instead, he skated away, reaching down to spin Madi and Auggie in a circle while they squealed. 

He hadn’t given her the chance to say it back, but she knew. 

Clarke loved him too. 

_***_  
_February 7, 2020_

The kids were asleep in a pile on the couch, a mass of limbs, each one indistinguishable from the other. It was sweet, the way they’d laid on the couch all snuggled up, sharing snacks and whispering secrets he and Clarke weren’t supposed to hear. 

Toy Story kept playing, light background noise to their quiet evening. 

“You know, I never thought I would have something like this again,” he said, running his fingers through Clarke’s hair. 

Bellamy wasn’t even sure she was awake, but he had to say it out loud, had to tell her how much the past six months meant to him. 

“Have what?” she asked, voice rough, a sleepy smile crossing her face as she looked up at him. 

His heart fluttered—chest constructing with the amount of overwhelming emotion he was feeling. 

“I don’t know...I thought I would be lonely forever. That I would just raise the boys and get old by myself. Just exist. I never—I never thought I would fall in love again, that I would feel like this about someone.”

It was more than he intended to say, more vulnerable than he’d ever been with anyone. 

But it was undeniably the truth. 

Clarke sat up, climbed into his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. 

He thought she was going to kiss him, but instead, she brushed a stray curl off his forehead, trailing her finger down the side of his face. 

It was so gentle, so tender that for a moment, he had to hold back tears. 

And then, she kissed him, soft and sweet. 

Clarke was crying too, a few stray tears slipping down her cheeks. 

“When Madi was born, I decided then and there that she was all I needed in the world. And that still stands, she’s the center of my universe. But—but there’s more room there than I thought, something’s been missing this whole time and that’s you. Well, not just you. Jordan and Auggie too. I don’t know how to explain it, but—“ she tried, palm still pressed against his jaw. 

“Things feel more whole when you’re around,” he finished, understanding exactly where she was coming from, relieved that they were on the same page. 

“I know it hasn’t been that long, but this is really serious for me. I’ve never let someone in like this before.” 

He nodded, covering his hand with her own, wishing he could somehow funnel hours worth of emotion into a single gesture. 

It was all so fast, and yet—it didn’t feel like they were rushing at all. 

_***_  
_February 28, 2020_

Jordan and Auggie bolted upstairs the second they got through the door, already yelling for Madi. 

They’d been talking about it all week, what games they were going to play, about how Madi had a fish, and how she was going to teach them how to make friendship bracelets. 

Well—Jordan had been talking about it all week, Auggie mainly babbled in agreement, repeating whatever his brother said. 

But their excitement was sweet all the same. 

“I brought wine,” he grinned, holding up a bottle as Clarke emerged from the kitchen, still in her work clothes. 

“I burned dinner,” she sighed, rubbing her temples. “I’m sorry it’s just been a day.” 

He put the bottle down on the floor, holding his arms out for Clarke to walk into. 

She sagged into the hug, burying her face into his shoulder. 

“How about pizza?” 

“Can we get breadsticks too?” 

“Breadsticks and cinnamon rolls, you deserve it,” he chuckled, rubbing a hand up and down her back, rocking her gently back and forth. 

Absently, he wished this could be their everyday life, that they could hug after a bad day and eat pizza on the couch and just—exist. 

Bellamy had to force himself to slow down, to remind himself that it was too soon to move into together—too soon to jump in head first, no matter how badly he wanted to. 

He had to think of the boys, that their hearts were on the line too. 

So he stopped himself, swallowing the words he desperately wanted to say and instead guiding Clarke to the couch. 

She kept her arms wrapped around him, settling into his lap. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, kissing her bare shoulder. 

“It’s going to sound dumb,” Clarke said, shifting, so her head was tucked in the crook of his neck, her lips brushing the edge of his jaw. 

“Try me.” 

“So my fourth graders are making pinch pots, right? And the key is that you have to get all the air bubbles out or the pot explodes when you put it in the kiln. But one of the boys didn’t seal his edges properly,” she explained, “his pot exploded—and it destroyed half the class’ pots with it. When the other kids found out, all hell broke loose. There was crying, accusations of sabotage, a lot of drama. We had to suspend someone, there was a fistfight. Just a terrible day.” 

Bellamy rubbed her back while she vented—listening as Clarke recounted her day. 

It was simple and domestic, and even if tonight hadn’t gone the way they planned. He didn’t really mind.

_***_  
_March 1, 2020_

Auggie bumped his head on the top of the slide. 

It took him a beat before he realized what happened, but the second he did, he burst into tears. 

Before Bellamy could move, Clarke lunged up, running toward Auggie, swooping him into her arms. 

She rocked him back and forth, murmuring quietly to him as she stroked his soft black curls. 

Auggie held onto her, his little fists grabbing the fabric of her sweater and his tear-stained face burying into her chest. 

Eventually, he calmed down, his thumb slipping into his mouth as he stilled in Clarke’s arms. 

Bellamy ran his hand through his hair, trying to keep his emotions in check. 

His son saw Clarke as a source of comfort, as someone who would take care of him and make him feel better. 

And she’d run to him so instinctively, without a shred of doubt that it was what she should do. 

In all senses of the word, Clarke had become his partner. Not just romantically, but in life too. They were there for each other on the hard days and for little things like bumps and bruises—everyday stuff. 

“Bellamy,” Madi asked, breaking him out of his thoughts by tapping on his knee. “Can we have hot chocolate? Jordy said there’s a truck that’s really yummy.” 

“Jordy is very right,” he agreed, swooping up Madi in one arm and Jordan in the other. “I think we are in desperate need of some hot chocolate.” 

_***_  
_March 13, 2020_

The news scrolled dramatically across the screen of Bellamy’s T.V. A bright yellow bar blaring information about WHO and the CDC and all sorts of other scary acronyms he would rather not think about. 

“You seriously can’t find any other day for this meeting? Have you seen the news,” Bellamy sighed, leaning back in his work chair. 

He knew this was a pointless argument—in fact, it was impossible to argue with authors once they got a little bit of fame. 

Bill Cadogan was on his third book tour and absolutely adamant that Bellamy needed to meet him for his last leg. 

“The news is a bunch of shit. It’s all for ratings. Something like that would never come to the U.S.” Bill continued confidently, still holding firm that Bellamy absolutely needed to come to Los Angeles next week. “I really think I’m on the verge of a movie deal here.” 

Flopping back in his desk chair, Bellamy laid his phone down on the table, letting Bill talk to himself about how successful his movie was going to be, about how he wanted Brad Pitt to portray his likeness. 

The man loved the sound of his own voice. 

It didn’t feel like Bellamy had a lot of options here. 

He could either go along with this stupid plan, or he could risk pissing off one of his firm’s most important clients and get fired. 

“Okay, fine. I will meet you in Los Angeles on Tuesday and stay until your meeting on Thursday,” he resigned, deeply unhappy with this concession. 

“That’s what I thought,” Bill said smugly, not even bothering to say goodbye before he hung up. 

“Yeah, fuck you,” Bellamy said to the dead line, beyond irritated that he was being put in this position. 

Despite what Cadogan was saying—Bellamy wasn’t too sure that whatever was tearing through the rest of the world wouldn’t make its way to the U.S. eventually. 

It was too risky to chance sending the boys to stay with Octavia in Chicago. 

And it wasn’t like he could pull them out of school for a week just because he had a meeting. 

He could call Miller...but Miller’s new boyfriend had a taste for expensive furniture. Bellamy really didn’t need the added stress of Auggie knocking over a million dollar vase from the Ming dynasty or spilling juice on a couch made from antique nickels. 

His gut was telling him to ask Clarke. He trusted her, knew the boys liked her, knew that if something happened and he got stuck in L.A., that she would keep them safe until he got back. 

The boys would be thrilled at the prospect of spending the week with Madi and Clarke. 

But it was a lot to ask. 

Chewing on his lip, he stress read through at least twenty threads on Reddit, all of which only made him even more panicked than he was before. 

He knew this was the best option for the boys—that this was the only way he would feel okay leaving them in the middle of all this. 

Clarke’s voice was tinny when she answered the phone, sounding far away. He could vaguely hear the sound of pots and pans banging, the beep of the oven. 

“Sorry, did you get this ridiculous email about the bake sale? It must’ve ended up in my junk mail or something. I have to make like a hundred gluten-free brownies by tomorrow,” she sighed, voice trailing off as the beeping suddenly stopped. 

“Yeah, I dropped off three of those plastic things of cupcakes from the store with Jordan this morning,” he chuckled, thinking back to the way the PTA mom had glared at him when he left them on the table. 

“Ugh, you pay for all these fees, and then they make you do things like buy cassava flour…” 

Bellamy listened as she flitted around in the kitchen, ranting aimlessly about the evils of grain-free flour. Frankly, it didn’t matter what Clarke was talking about, he could listen to her talk for hours. 

Finally, the shuffling stopped, followed by the sound of a running sink before Clarke’s became clear again. 

“Sorry about that. You called me, and I’m like this giant mess today. How are you?” 

He sighed, delving into the full story about how big of an asshole Bill Cadogan was and unloading all the information he’d read in the news articles. It felt good to get it all off his chest, to share his frustration with someone else. 

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry he’s such a dick…”

“He’s a necessary evil, I suppose. Please never buy any of his books.” 

“Noted. Although, isn’t that bad advice from a book agent?” 

“Most definitely. That should tell you how much I hate this man.” 

Clarke chuckled, trailing off as she waited for him to finish the story. 

“He wants me to fly to L.A. next week for some movie meeting. The next goal is to make this pile of shit into some sort of action movie starring Brad Pitt. But uh—with everything going on, I can’t exactly send the boys to stay with my sister. And I can’t ask her to come stay either. And I know it’s a lot to ask, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to have Auggie and Jordan stay with you for a few days.” 

There was a pause as Clarke sifted through what he knew was a long rambling mess. 

“Bellamy—I would be more than happy to.” 

_***_  
_March 20, 2020_

Auggie curled into Clarke’s chest, still half asleep as she laid on the couch with him drinking her coffee. It was a simple comfort, one of the things she missed most about having a baby around. 

He was the best kind of kid, quiet and gentle, always thinking. Sometimes he would scrunch up his brow, deep in thought, and he looked exactly like Bellamy. 

She rubbed a hand down his tiny back, eyes glued to the T.V. 

Clarke was half convinced the world was ending. If the current state of affairs was anything to go by, things were about to get very, very bad. 

One by one, states were going into lockdown, shutting down everything except essential businesses. 

Her focus was fixed on California, the tiny red dot of Los Angles indicating where Bellamy was. 

Seeing it geographically, he was so far away from them, completely out of reach. 

The idea that he could get stuck there, that something could happen to him, made Clarke’s stomach twist in an ugly knot. 

Her phone rang before her thoughts could get out of control, and she answered without looking, assuming it was Bellamy. 

“Clarke?” a woman’s voice said, shocking her out of her thoughts. Whoever this was most definitely Bellamy. “It’s Vice-Principal Reyes. I wasn’t sure if you saw the email—-but I’m trying to call everyone and tell them in person. We’re not coming back after this week. The school board voted last night. It seems more and more like we’re going to be online for the rest of the year.” 

Clarke panic spiked at this. If they were closing the school, things were worse than she thought. Bellamy wasn’t supposed to come home for a few more days, and things would probably just get worse by then. 

She talked with Raven about logistics for two minutes before she couldn’t handle the professional small talk any longer. 

The second the call ended, she called Bellamy.   
  
It was the middle of the night in California, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Not when the tiny baby on her chest was waiting for his dad to come home, not when the entire world was shutting down, and he was stuck halfway across the country. 

_***_

_Lockdown: Week 3_

It just made sense to quarantine all together. It would give the kids a built-in group to play with, and having two sets of eyes instead of one made life a hell of a lot easier. 

In the end—Bellamy hadn’t needed to worry about rushing things. The universe did it for them. 

But things didn’t feel rushed. If anything, they felt more normal than ever. 

Clarke and Madi moved in with them, the guest room transforming into a fluffy, pink, little girl’s room. They’d done it up together as a little quarantine project, applying swirly pink wallpaper that Clarke found on Etsy and installing a tiny chandelier to hang over Madi’s bed. 

It’d slowly become Auggie’s favorite room in the house, and he spent most nights curled up beside Madi, hugging one of her giant stuffed pigs. 

Not to be left out, Jordan pretended he didn't care a respectable amount, until he too eventually ended up tucked beside the other two. 

At night, he and Clarke could hear them whispering down the hall, telling spooky stories and bad knock-knock jokes. 

The world was scary and terrible and uncertain right now, but lying in bed with his arms around Clarke, listening to the three little giggles in the dark, was undoubtedly a bright spot in his world. 

Still smiling, he bent down to kiss Clarke, letting his lips linger on hers. She kissed him back, deepening it, turning so they were pressed tightly together. 

In the chaos of everything else—they hadn’t gotten much time alone. 

“Do you think we could?” she moaned, tugging on the hem of his worn T-shirt, pulling it over his head. 

The giggles had faded away, replaced with the sound of Madi’s white noise machine and Jordan’s quiet snores. 

He wanted Clarke so badly, weirdly, he’d missed her, missing having time alone together. 

“If we’re quiet and fast, anything is possible,” he said between kisses, palming her breast through her shirt. 

For two weeks now, they’d all been on top of each other, settling in, trying to get their bearings on how weird life was right now. 

His hand was teasing the hem of her sleep shorts, just about to slide them off...when a small voice called from the door. 

“Daddy, I scared,” Auggie called, words catching on a sob. 

Gingerly, he rolled off of Clarke, thinking about every unsexy thing in the world as he moved to pick his son up. 

This had been happening a lot lately, even with the added comfort of sharing a bed with Jordan and Madi. It was a lot of change for Auggie, his whole routine got disrupted, and he wasn’t taking it very well. 

“Come here, baby,” Clarke said with a soft smile, reaching out so Auggie could curl up between them. 

Playing with the ends of Clarke’s hair, he listened as Bellamy told a half-remembered retelling of Beauty and the Beast. It took till almost near the end, reaching the point where Bellamy mixed up some of the details and accidentally started telling Sleeping Beauty, before Auggie drifted off to sleep. 

Clarke stroked his little head of curls, humming softly to ensure that he was fully asleep. 

This wasn’t what Bellamy had had in mind, but he wasn’t exactly complaining. The gentle, maternal side of Clarke was part of what he loved most about her. His kids trusted her, reached for her, and that spoke volumes about who she was. 

“Can I sleep in here too?” Another voice called from the door as Madi appeared beside their bed. 

“There’s always room for one more,” Bellamy smiled, helping her climb up and settle beside Auggie. 

Hugging his arm tightly, with her face squished against his bare shoulder—she too fell asleep. 

In the dark, on the opposite end of the bed, Clarke started to laugh. It was quiet, but at the sound of it. He couldn’t help but laugh too. 

They’d skipped so many steps, done everything backward almost by accident. But it was perfect in its own way. They didn’t have romantic candlelit dinners or more than three minutes alone at any given moment. Still, they did have a weirdly beautiful family that came together on its own. 

“I got left,” Jordan’s voice called from the door, already crawling onto the bed without much preamble. He nudged himself between Madi and Auggie, leaving barely enough room for Bellamy and Clarke on the ends. 

Half crushed by the weight of three tiny bodies, Bellamy drifted off to sleep. 

Only to be woken an hour later, without a blanket, hanging off the edge of the bed, a foot pressed up against his chin. 

“Clarke—are you awake?” He whispered, staring up at the ceiling while he waited for her response. 

“I never fell asleep,” she replied, letting herself slide off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. 

Following her lead, he eased the stray foot off his chest and rolled onto the floor, crawling till they met somewhere in the middle. 

He held out his hand to help her up, nodding toward the door. 

“Kicked out of our own room…” he sighed, laughing to himself as he followed Clarke to Madi’s room. 

“We need a bigger bed.” 

“I don’t think they make beds that big.” 

Madi’s little pink twin bed was a tight fit, forcing Bellamy to curl onto his side just to keep his legs from hanging off the end. But it kept them close together, Clarke’s back fitting perfectly into his chest. 

It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but they fell asleep in minutes, tucked under a fluffy princess comforter, sharing a single pillow. 

_***_  
_Lockdown: Week 4_

“Wanna see?” Auggie asked, climbing into Clarke’s lap before she could even answer. 

He was practically on top of her laptop, and she had to gently ease him off of it—ensuring that her entire morning of work didn’t disappear in a matter of seconds. 

“Das you!” He continued, holding out a sheet of paper to her. “And das me!” 

It was a drawing, two black markered blobs, one tall and one very small. The taller of the two had yellow lines coming out of its head, and the smaller had a mess of black loops. 

Between them was a messy red circle that vaguely resembled a heart. 

“Auggie bear, this is so beautiful,” Clarke exclaimed, pulling him close and giving him a tight squeeze. “I love it so much! Do I get to keep it? Shall we put it on the fridge?” 

All her frustration from e-learning and the headache of trying to figure out an online art class drained away as she arranged the drawing between an old spelling test of Jordan’s and some photo booth pictures from the ice skating rink. 

They’d all been in kind of a rut lately, the cabin fever setting in as the novelty of living together starting wearing off. 

Everything was still closed—and they had nothing to do except hang out with each other. 

“Jordan! Madi! Can one of you get the Clorox? I need help wiping off the groceries!” Bellamy called from somewhere in the house. 

“Why don’t we hang out here a little longer…” she whispered to Auggie, lifting him up onto her hip. 

Just another day in social distancing. 

_***_  
_Lockdown; Week 5_

Clarke bristled when Bellamy slammed another cabinet door shut. 

This was getting old. 

They’d been in lockdown for about a month now, with no end in sight. 

The kids were grouchy, tired of E-learning and YouTube videos, and sitting on the couch. Bellamy was—in a terrible mood, she wasn’t sure from what, but he’d been moping around the house for a few days now. 

Carefully, she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his torso. 

He relaxed under her touch, bracing his arms on the kitchen counter. 

“I know I kind of suck to be around—I’m sorry,” he said quietly, still facing the counter. 

“This is wearing on all of us, it’s okay if you’re not doing okay right now,” she reassured, kissing his shoulder. 

It was true. She’d had her fair share of days where she was so frustrated and angry that she just wanted to bury under the couch and stay there. 

Sometimes it was a lot to deal with, the pandemic, being stuck at home, both of them working from the living room, the kids doing their school work at the kitchen table—-all on top of their relatively new relationship. 

“I just feel totally off-center. No gym, work in my face 24-7…it’s overwhelming sometimes.” 

She stroked a hand over his stomach, just holding him, hoping that talking about it would help him get some of his frustration out. 

“I have an idea,” she said, kissing his back one last time before she pulled away, disappearing into the living room. 

Just because they couldn’t go to the gym, didn’t mean they couldn’t work out. 

All she needed was a few yoga mats, some wine bottles, and a jump rope. 

“Jordy, can you get your dad?” She called from the garage, finally satisfied with her layout. 

She’d put on her cutest workout outfit, tried her best to make it look like a makeshift gym. 

To be honest, it wasn’t very convincing, but she hoped that it made Bellamy feel a little better. 

“Surprise!!” She yelled, gesturing wildly to her handiwork. “It’s a gym!” 

He looked around for a beat before he ran at her, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle. 

“What did I do to deserve you?” he grinned, kissing her soundly as he set her back down. 

_***_  
_Lockdown: Week 6_

“Welcome to Jordy and Clarke’s cooking channel!!” Jordan announced, standing on a chair so he could see his “audience,” and the camera perched on top of a stack of books better. 

Bellamy, Auggie, and Madi all sat at the kitchen table, still wearing their pajamas, watching as Clarke and Jordan set up for their demonstration. 

“What’re we making today, Jordy?” Clarke asked, holding a spoon up like a microphone. 

“We’re making monkey bread! It’s super easy and super yummy.” 

Bellamy and Madi clapped, while Jordan dramatically rubbed a stick of butter into a pan, explaining why they needed to make sure the monkey bread didn’t stick. 

“We get to eat it, right?” Madi whispered, flopping her head into Bellamy’s shoulder while Clarke and Jordan smacked containers of dough on the counter. 

“That’s the best part about being in the audience kiddo, you get to eat the dessert without any of the work,” he said, dropping his voice even lower, like he was sharing the world’s biggest secret. 

Madi beamed, holding her hand out for a high five. And it struck Bellamy at that moment how much he loved her, how much she already felt like one of his kids. 

She was spunky and funny and bright, always making him laugh, taking his side when Jordan and Clarke teased him. They were kind of a team, more chill than the baking duo but good for a laugh every once in a while. 

He kissed the top of her head, wrapping an arm around her tiny shoulders while Jordan helped Clarke melt butter in a glass measuring cup. 

“Now we gotta cut up the biscuits real good,” Clarke explained, helping Jordan wield a massive knife as they cut the round biscuits into triangles. 

“Do you think these would taste good with ice cream?” Bellamy asked, raising an eyebrow at Madi. 

“I think everything tastes good with ice cream,” Madi giggled, wiggling her eyebrows back at him. 

“Shhh….this is the best part!” Jordan exclaimed, waving for them to be quiet as he carefully laid pieces of dough into a Bundt pan. “Clarke, it’s ready.” 

Clarke helped Jordan lift the cup of butter and pour it over the Bundt pan. 

“And now we just gotta sit tight until the bread is done monkeying!” Clarke exclaimed, picking Jordan up and spinning him around the kitchen. 

Bellamy’s heart swelled at the sight. The boys had never really known what it was like to have a maternal presence in their lives. Gina passed away when they were so young—he knew there was no way they would remember anything other than the stories that he told them and the album full of pictures they each had. 

And no one would ever replace their mom. 

But Clarke loved them like they were her own, put on fake cooking shows with them, and sang songs to Auggie while he was taking his bath. 

In a time where nothing was normal, and everything was tinged with a lingering sense of panic—he was more grateful for her than ever. 

_***_

_Lockdown: Week 6.5_

“Joey—you need to turn your camera back on!” Clarke groaned, waving her hand in front of the screen. 

Behind her, Madi screamed at the top of her lungs while Jordan chased her around the living room. 

“Christina, you still have to draw even if you don’t like the assignment. We’re not doing pottery today,” she continued, eyes darting around the screen. 

Distantly she heard a thud, followed by the sound of crying. But there was too much chaos going on in her class right now for her to go and check. 

She waited, and the crying stopped—hopefully whatever the issue was, they’d sorted it out. With three kids you sometimes had to let them mediate by themselves 

“Jordan! You cannot be in here right now!” Bellamy bellowed from somewhere further in the house, followed by the sound of more crying and little footsteps running down the hall. 

“Shit,” Bellamy said, followed quickly by, “no, no, Bill—not you, I was talking to my kids.” 

A pause. 

“No I don’t really subscribe to that method of parenting…..yes I’m sure there are merits to the belt but—-“ 

One of Clarke’s students logged out of the Zoom without warning, leaving her both unable to eavesdrop on Bellamy’s conversation or check in on what exactly happened with the kids. 

“Does anyone know where Avery went,” she sighed, pulling up her email while the other students shrugged.

Yet another email to a parent—so far, E-learning was a giant pain in her ass. 

Bellamy appeared just as her call was winding down, his hair sticking up awkwardly like he’d been running his hands through it all morning. 

“Didn’t you see them running around?!? Jordan and Madi knocked over a lamp in the middle of my phone call,” he snapped, jaw tensing as he stuffed his phone in his pocket. “And then I had to listen to fucking Cadogan of all people lecture me about how I don’t discipline my kids properly…” 

Clarke felt a flash of heat at the back of her neck, suddenly impossibly irritated at Bellamy. 

“You realize I have a job, too, right?! I have to teach a fucking art class over Zoom! To a bunch of twelve-year-olds who couldn’t care less about school right now. None of them listen to me, I spent thirty minutes convincing them to stop turning off my microphone. I used to love my job, and now it’s the worst thing about my day,” she snapped, finally letting all her frustrations about the pandemic and e-learning and this quarantine out. “Not to mention that I’m living in your house. Which means I have nowhere to go and I still don’t know where any of my stuff is and—“ 

Her rant got caught on a sob, laptop sliding out of her lap as she curled into a ball on the couch. 

All this wasn’t new, it’d been simmering for a while—but saying it out loud was like a relief. 

“Clarke—baby,” Bellamy said, voice dropping into a sigh as he gathered her in his arms, holding her close. “I’m sorry. I got caught up on all of my own shit, and...that was selfish. I know this is a lot, and we did everything so fast, and I don’t want you to go, but—if you wanted to go back to your apartment for a few days...I would understand.” 

“I don’t want to go anywhere. I’m just frustrated and exhausted and so sick of being cooped up inside.”

He held her, letting her process her emotions quietly. 

“I know we did this all really fast, but I don’t regret it. I’ve loved these past few months with you and the kids—even if it does suck sometimes,” she said after a beat, pulling back to press a soft kiss to Bellamy’s nose. “But, I’m so fucking sick of this quarantine.” 

Bellamy stroked a curl off her forehead, tucking it behind her ear. 

“Let’s order dinner tonight. And then, after the kids are asleep, we can pull the car out onto the driveway and snag twenty minutes alone.” 

“We’re going on a date in a parked car? In our driveway?” 

“Yes, and yes.” 

_***_

_Lockdown: Week 7_

Their date nights in the car became a regular thing. It wasn’t much, just a parked car in the driveway, a carton of ice cream, and some boxed wine. 

“Madi’s birthday is coming up,” Clarke said, digging through the carton for a chunk of cookie dough. “We always make it into a huge deal, but I feel like she’s going to be disappointed this year, and it kind of breaks my heart.” 

Bellamy dipped his spoon into the container, fishing out a chunk for her while he mulled over her words. 

“Octavia had one of those drive-through birthday parties for her son. It was a huge hit. All his friends came, and they honked and screamed,” he suggested, pulling up the pictures Octavia sent him. “It’s not a party or anything, but we can still make it special.” 

Before Clarke could answer—the baby monitor between them buzzed, followed by a crackle and a small voice. 

“We can’t sleep, and we’re bored,” Madi said, interrupted quickly by Jordan. 

“You’re supposed to say ‘over’ when you’re done talking.” 

“Why?” 

“I don’t know you just do.” 

“That’s stupid.” 

“You’re stupid.” 

“Jordan called me stupid.” 

The bickering continued as Bellamy collected their half-melted ice cream. 

So much for date night. 

“I like the idea for Madi’s birthday,” Clarke smiled, muting the baby monitor. 

Leaning across the center console, she kissed him, soft at first but it quickly edged into something more desperate. 

It really had been a long time since they’d gotten more than five seconds alone. 

_***_  
_Lockdown: Week 7.5_

“I think they’re actually asleep—“ Clarke whispered, leaning on Madi’s closed bedroom door. 

The kids were still insisting on sleeping together in one bed, squished tightly, usually whispering for hours in the dark. 

But tonight, Clarke and Bellamy had run them around the backyard for hours, setting up sprinklers, playing game after game of tag. 

They were determined to tire them out, to snag a few hours of alone time. 

In all the adjustment, she’d completely lost sight of the fact that they’d barely been dating for seven months. Sometimes, they acted like they’d been married for ten years. 

With a boyish wink, Bellamy gestured for her to follow him down the stairs. 

“Hey,” he whispered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. 

“Hey,” Clarke smiled, pushing up on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. 

She was thrumming with excitement, this felt like a first date. 

He led her out to the garage, the door was open with a blanket laid out on the center. Beside it was a small charcuterie board, two glasses of wine, and a single cupcake. 

“I love you,” she said, kissing him once more as they settled down on the blanket. 

Tempting as the food and wine were, she deepened the kiss—drunk off the prospect of uninterrupted alone time. 

It was desperate and heartfelt and completely worth the wait. 

_***_  
_Lockdown: Week 9_

Madi ran in a circle around the kitchen, hyped up from all the sugar and attention. 

Being the only girl in a house of boys definitely had its perks—Bellamy went completely overboard. 

The kitchen was draped in pink streamers and balloons, five different flavors of ice cream sat on the counter beside the massive cake Clarke baked and nestled in the corner of the room, was a pile of presents taller than Madi herself. 

Together, Bellamy, Clarke, Jordan, Auggie, and Bellamy’s sister and her family via Zoom, all sang happy birthday as they cut the cake. 

“Okay, plug us into the T.V. so we can play charades,” Octavia exclaimed, readjusting the camera, so her entire family was in view. 

“Ohhh, can I go first!” Madi exclaimed, springing up from her chair and spinning, so her new skirt twirled. 

“Anything for our six-year-old birthday princess!” Octavia agreed, smiling broadly. 

Clarke scooped Auggie out of his high chair, hanging back as she watched her daughter act out mowing a lawn while everyone else guessed. 

She was completely blown away by all this. Bellamy didn’t tell her about including Octavia, that had been an enormous surprise. The idea that Bellamy’s family cared enough about her daughter to participate in a Zoom birthday party—meant the world to Clarke. 

They’d never had anything like this—a big extended family, full of noise and kids and games and jokes. 

It was the kind of thing Clarke had always absently dreamed of but never allowed herself to hope for. 

And Bellamy—he’d gone above and beyond, going to Target and spending way too much money on presents, setting up decorations, helping her call all of Madi’s friends and classmates to arrange the car parade. 

As much as it scared her to think about, he was filling a role in Clarke’s life that she never knew she needed. He was her partner, always and—a father figure in Madi’s life. 

“C’arke!! Let’s go!!” Auggie exclaimed, pointing to all the excitement in the living room. 

With a soft laugh, she kissed Auggie’s dark curls, carrying him into the excitement. 

“I think it’s me and Auggie’s turn!” 

They played games for almost two hours, charades and twenty questions and Pictionary. 

By the end of it, they really did feel like one big family. Even after only knowing one another from a few FaceTime chats and this party, Madi and Octavia’s youngest were “best friends.” 

It wasn’t a conventional birthday party by any means, but Clarke decided it was by far one of the best she’d ever attended. 

“I think it’s time for one last surprise,” Clarke said, winking at Jordan and Bellamy. 

They wrapped up the zoom call, promising to FaceTime Octavia again next week before heading outside to wait out in the front yard. 

“Why are we outside?” Madi asked, flopping into the grass just as the first car appeared from around the corner. 

With a long honk, Madi’s friend from school hung outside the window, screaming happy birthday as they drove by. 

With her jaw dropped, Madi jumped up and down, waving excitedly. As more and more cars appeared, she kept jumping, screaming “thank you” and “I miss you” and “I love you” as people drove by. 

Some of her friends had made signs, others tossed presents out the window to stand in the grass. 

The excitement only grew as time went on, with Jordan and Auggie joining as Madi ran back and forth across the lawn, bouncing and waving. 

Finally, when the last car disappeared from view, the kids collapsed into the grass, clearly worn out from all the excitement. 

“This was...incredible,” Clarke said, wrapping her arms around Bellamy’s waist, still looking out at the now-empty street. 

“That smile made it all worth it, didn't it?” He grinned back, kissing the top of her head. 

Suddenly, Madi came flying at them, flinging her arms out to hug them both and stretching to fit them both in her grasp. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She squealed, squeezing them as tightly as she could manage. “This was my favorite day.” 

Still smiling, Bellamy scooped her up, fitting her between his and Clarke’s bodies. 

“Happy birthday, peanut,” Clarke said, kissing her daughter's cheek. 

“I love you,” Madi said, smacking a wet kiss to her mom’s cheek. “And I love you,” she continued, kissing Bellamy’s cheek with equal enthusiasm. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Clarke could’ve sworn she saw Bellamy tearing up. 

***  
_Lockdown: Week 13_

“I need you to be honest with me, O,” Bellamy said, taking off his mask as he closed the car door. “Am I fucking crazy?” 

He slumped against the seat, examining himself in the rearview mirror. 

It was crazy—he barely recognized his life anymore. In less than a year, he’d gone from spending his nights alone, sending up silent prayers that his boys wouldn’t grow up feeling like they weren’t missing anything to having more than he could’ve ever asked for. 

The whole thing was so wild, it didn’t feel real. And sure, they weren’t living in normal times, but he wasn’t sure if anything would ever go back to normal again. 

He might as well just embrace it. 

“I watched you be sad for a really long time Bell, and for the first time in a long time, you seem like yourself again,” Octavia said, voice echoing through the speaker of his car. “Embrace it. You deserve to have a good life. And I like Clarke a lot, so that helps too.” 

That's high praise coming from his sister. She hates pretty much everyone, and she was not quick to trust. 

Plus, she had a point. Between Gina’s health, losing her, and raising the boys by himself, Bellamy couldn’t remember the last time he felt anything resembling normal. 

“So…” 

“I support it. Go out and embrace the fact that life is short, and everything happens for a reason.” 

There was a shriek, and a thud in the background, and Octavia cut off the call shortly after, leaving Bellamy alone in his car. 

He stared out the dashboard at the brick building that he’d entered and exited just as quickly. 

It would be stupid of him not to do it. Octavia was right, he needed to stop standing in the way of his own happiness. 

***

  
_Lockdown: Week 15_

Clarke curled up in the gap between Madi and Jordan, pulling Auggie in her lap. She had no idea what Bellamy was up to—he’d gathered them all in the living room, plugged his laptop into the T.V. and was now patiently waiting for them to settle in. 

“Everyone ready?” he asked, flipping on the T.V. with a flourish. 

They all nodded, Jordan passing a Reese’s cup across Clarke’s lap to Madi. 

“We’ve been cooped up for almost five months. And I know everyone is going a little crazy,” Bellamy continued. “Which is why I think we’re due for a little vacation. Nothing fancy, of course. Just some socially distant outdoor fun all without crossing state lines.” 

He flipped to the first slide, a cabin about an hour north in Polis. 

“This little AirBnB has all the rustic charm we could ask for. It’s totally isolated, equipped with a hot tub and a beautiful view of the mountains.” 

Then, the screen shifted to a lake house. 

“Forty-five minutes west, we have the ever beautiful Lake Sanctum. This equally isolated lake house technically sleeps ten, and it has a game room. There’s even a little boat that we can use to fish.” 

With a sweep of his arm, Bellamy flipped to the last slide. 

“And last but certainly not least, we have a little farm stay in TonDC. This sprawling farmhouse has 15 acres of land, a cow, a chicken, and a few pigs. Fresh eggs for breakfast every day and lots of country living.” 

The slides ended, and the kids all clapped, while Clarke sat awestruck at the amount of effort Bellamy put into all this. 

Immediately, Jordan and Madi started bickering about which one they would rather go to. 

Bellamy chuckled, closing his laptop before he folded himself into the armchair across from them. 

“What do you think?” He asked, giving Clarke a conspiratorial wink. 

She was still a little thrown by the whole thing, her brain not processing what was truly an overwhelmingly sweet gesture. 

“I—this—is amazing,” she finally said, shaking her head as she smiled at him. 

“I wanna go to the mountains!” Jordan yelled, at the same time, Madi said she wanted to go to the farm. 

And then—all three of them looked expectantly at Clarke. 

“Guess I’m supposed to be the tiebreaker...but, I think the lake house sounds the best,” she shrugged, snuggling Auggie close as Madi and Jordan both groaned and flopped on the floor. 

Bellamy smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Except you’re not the tie breaker...Mr. Auggie is. And I think that he wants to go to the lake house. Right, Auggie?” 

There was a responding, “Yes, daddy,” because, of course, Auggie had no idea what he was agreeing to.

“I think it’s decided then—we’re going to the lake!” 

***

  
Bellamy chewed on his lip as he drove, tapping on the steering wheel to the beat of an old Bob Dylan song. 

He was nervous—this trip needed to be perfect. 

“Are we almost there?” Madi asked from the backseat, thudding her head lightly against the window. “I’m so bored.” 

“Madi, it’s not even an hour drive,” Clarke chuckled, turning around to grab her daughter’s foot. 

“It’s still boring, Jordy fell asleep, and Auggie doesn’t want to play any games.” 

Clarke squeezed Madi’s foot before turning around to share a look with Bellamy. 

He chuckled too—the way the kids acted, you would never know that they’d only known each other for a few months and were not, in fact, biological siblings. 

It was sweet, and further confirmed that Octavia was right. 

They were a family—even if it seemed fast and felt a little crazy. 

“We’re here!” He beamed, pulling up a graveled driveway to a massive lake house. 

It was robin’s egg blue, lit up by the orange-yellow sunset and framed with the sparkling waters of Lake Sanctum. 

“Wow, it’s like a castle!!” Madi yelled, holding out her hand for Auggie to high five. 

Bellamy pulled into the driveway, and the second the car stopped, the kids were barreling out, even Jordan, who was half asleep. 

“Our palace awaits,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows as he helped Clarke out of the passenger seat. 

“This is incredible,” she said, swinging her arms around his neck. “Thank you for planning this.” 

He kissed her, spinning her around. 

Octavia’s husband Lincoln spoke ten languages, but his first language was Spanish. In their wedding vows, he’d told Octavia that in his culture, there were lots of ways to say I love you and that what he felt for her was the strongest kind of love. The word he used—escaped Bellamy in hindsight, but the weight of those words still sat heavily in his heart. 

He couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea of that. Americans had one word for love, and they used it liberally and often. 

And he’d had love before, but there was something about having your heart ripped apart and then slowly piecing it back together that made your feelings more intense.

He finally got it—the feeling that he didn’t have a word for, a love that was so strong that the word love didn’t cover it. 

And of course, because the only language he spoke was English...he had no words to express it. 

Instead, he just kissed Clarke again, hoping that she felt it too, that she understood. 

***

  
Jordan sat in his dad’s lap, snuggling into him. 

Today had been one of his favorite days. 

They’re swam out in the lake, jumping off a tire swing on a frayed rope. He and Madi took turns holding Auggie’s hand while he played in the water. 

For dinner, Clarke made chicken pot pie, and it made something in his chest feel warm and heavy. 

And his dad was smiling—he’d been doing that a lot lately. 

It made Jordan happy, he liked his dad best when he was happy too. 

He’d always been worried that his dad didn’t have a wife like all of his friends’ parents did. 

But now, they had Clarke, and she was happy, and she drew him pictures and cooked yummy dinner and read him stories and made his dad smile.

Jordan was kind of convinced she was a princess until Madi told him that was stupid. 

And even though Madi annoyed him, he liked having her around too. It was like having a best friend at home all the time. She always wanted to play pirates with him or watch movies, and she always told him that his cookies were yummy. 

It felt nice when they were all together, like his heart was happy. 

“Are you guys ready for bed?” Clarke asked, collecting their empty hot chocolate mugs. 

From her spot on a beanbag chair, Madi winked at him, looking between both their parents before she nodded her head and sprung up. 

“I’ll race you to brush our teeth, Jordy,” she yelled, beckoning him to follow her before she took off upstairs. 

Never wanting to be outdone, he hopped out of his dad’s lap and ran behind her. 

“Why are you running?” He panted, bracing his hands on his knees when he finally caught up to her. “This is a vacation, Madi.” 

Madi rolled her eyes, shoving her toothbrush in her mouth and scrubbing vigorously. 

“I have a plan. But you gotta be sneaky, okay?” She said, spitting her toothpaste in the sink. 

Now it was Jordan’s turn to roll his eyes, Madi was always coming up with these crazy plans. Usually, they were small things like sneaking down into the kitchen to get extra dessert or tricking their parents into reading them another story. 

“You want more dessert?” He sighed, nudging her over so he could brush his teeth alongside her. 

“No, silly, this is much more exciting than that,” she said, rinsing her mouth out. “Just don’t fall asleep.” 

And with that, she bounced out of the bathroom, leaving Jordan alone to wonder what she had planned. 

As much as he liked being best friends with Madi—she sometimes made his head hurt. 

Outside, he could already hear his dad and Clarke coming upstairs. 

If he didn’t hurry, Madi would get to pick the story again, and she’d already picked three times. Or worse—Auggie would get to choose, and he would have to read the animal book for the hundredth time. 

“Don’t pick the story without me!” He called, spitting out his toothpaste and racing to Madi’s room. 

But he paused when he saw Clarke in the hallway, staring at the rows of books in front of her. 

Jordan knelt beside Clarke in front of the bookcase, tucking himself into her side. 

She gave the best hugs, his favorite thing was when she squeezed him so tight that she lifted him off the ground a little. 

Clarke was warm, and she always smelled like flowers and rubbed his back. 

He loved her, and even though he knew she wasn’t his mom—Jordan had never known his real mom—she was what he always imagined a mom should be like. 

“What should we read, tic tac?” She asked, ruffling his hair as they looked through the books. “There’s a lot of good ones to choose from.” 

Jordan tucked his head into Clarke’s shoulder, hugging her as hard as he could. 

“What do you think?” 

“My dad used to read this one to me when I was a little kid,” she said, pulling a book from the shelf. “It’s called Where the Wild Things Are, and every time I read it, I think of him.” 

“Where’s your dad now?” Jordan asked, taking the book from her. “Do you get to see him a lot?” 

Clarke paused, pushing down the strands of hair she’d just ruffled. Her arms tightened around him, and she pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“My dad passed away when I was fifteen. He’s in heaven now,” she said gently. “But, when people go to heaven, they don’t really leave us. Everybody who loved them keeps a piece of them on earth. I see my dad in a lot of things. He loved fishing at sunset and beer in glass bottles and books about bridges. And I have his nose, so every time I look in the mirror, I see that too.” 

For a minute, Jordan felt a sting in his eyes. He didn’t know why but something Clarke said made him really really sad. 

He patted her cheek softly, turning his head to kiss her other one. 

“My mom is in heaven too,” he said, giving her a small, sad, smile. 

He didn’t really like talking about his mom. There wasn’t much he knew about her. His dad gave him a book full of pictures and told him stories, and he had a little blanket that his mom knitted for him, but that was all. Her name was Gina, and she had pretty brown hair and sparkly eyes—and sometimes he tried really hard to remember, but there wasn’t anything there. 

“You know what that means, right?” She asked, tracing a finger down the side of his face. “A piece of her is here on earth with you. In your face, your eyes, your heart. Even if she’s not here, her love for you is part of what makes you who you are.” 

Jordan threw his arms around Clarke’s neck, trying not to cry. He didn’t know why, but what she said made him feel better, like his mom was looking down on him right now. 

It was always hard to talk about—but with Clarke, it felt a little easier. 

“I love you,” he said, hoping she understood how much he meant it. 

“I love you forever, Jordy,” Clarke said back, hugging him just as tightly, lifting him off the ground in the way that he liked. 

They stayed like that until Jordan didn’t feel like he was going to cry anymore. 

Together they walked to Madi’s room with Where the Wild Things Are where Bellamy and Madi were already cuddled into bed together. 

“Auggie already fell asleep,” Madi explained, patting a spot beside her on the bed. “We read the animal book with him.” 

“In that case, scootch over!” Clarke giggled, lunging on the bed to tickle Madi. 

Eventually, they settled so that Madi and Jordan were sandwiched in between their parents, all snuggled close together. 

Madi held his hand over the covers, and he pillowed his head on Clarke’s shoulder. 

It was a good story and a good night. 

After their goodnight kisses, Jordan was ready to go to bed—but Madi had other ideas. 

“C’mon!” She whispered, waiting for their parents’ footsteps to disappear before she wiggled out of bed. 

“I’m tired,” he groaned, grudgingly following her as she crept out of the room, taking his blanket with him. 

Madi wove through the hallway like she knew exactly where she was going. Which was weird since they’d only been here for one day. 

They ended up in one of the giant rooms near the top of the house, one that none of them were using. 

Not even bothering to check if he was still following her, Madi pushed open the massive door leading out to a balcony. 

“I heard Bellamy say that the stars here are magic and that they have stories,” she explained, sitting in one of the oversized deck chairs. “And my mommy once read me a book that said that there are stars that grant wishes.” 

“Do you think these stars grant wishes?” He asked, settling beside her in the chair and draping the blanket over both their laps. 

Madi shrugged, tilting her head up to look at the sky. 

“We could always try it and see?” 

Jordan nodded, mulling over what he wanted to wish for. It was a big task—like a birthday candle, you only got one try, and it had to be a good one. 

He had an idea—but he didn’t know how he wanted to say it, it had to be exactly right. 

“I wish we get to be a family forever,” Madi said, clearly not needing the time he did to think over her wish. 

In a way, it was what he wanted to wish for too. He loved Clarke and Madi, and wanted them to be a part of his life forever. 

Madi already felt like his annoying little sister. 

When they were around, he felt more whole, like they were a part of his heart too—just like Clarke said. 

“I wish for us to be a family forever, too,” he said, letting Madi snuggle closer. “If we both wish for it, it’ll make it stronger.” 

***

  
“Jordy?” Madi asked, hanging off the side of the couch.

It was raining, and their parents were in the kitchen making some kind of fancy dinner. But she was bored, and Jordan was usually the easiest person to get to play with her. 

“Let’s go do something fun...c’ mon,” she said, poking his leg. 

“Shhh...I’m reading,” he said, not looking up from his book. 

“You can read when we go home. I’m bored.” 

“Ask Auggie to play.” 

“Auggie is taking a nap, and he doesn’t understand rules, so he doesn’t know how to play any of the good games.” 

She kept poking his leg until finally, he put the book down. 

“Fine. But we have to play dragons,” he sighed, sliding off the couch. 

“Can we play the princess and the dragon?” She asked, bouncing beside him as they headed upstairs. 

Having Jordan around was Madi’s favorite thing ever. Before they moved in with the Blakes, she’d gotten really good playing by herself, sometimes she’d even make up games with her fish Mr. Bubbles, but now she had a real-life best friend who lived in her house. 

And while Jordan could be kind of grumpy sometimes, he was fun to play with, and he always let her pick the game. 

In her head, Madi had already decided he was her brother. They lived in the same house, and they got to play all the time—she was pretty sure that was what brothers did. 

“I think my dad has a green sweatshirt I can use to pretend to be a dragon,” he said, gesturing for her to follow him into their parents’ room. 

While Jordan dug through his dad’s suitcase, Madi sifted through Clarke’s drawers. 

She found a pink sundress that was perfect for playing princess and high heels that would be extra fun to walk in. 

This would be the best game of dragon and princess ever. 

Madi was putting on some of her mom’s pink lipstick when Jordan roared behind her, holding up something small and shiny. 

“Hahaha, I’m the dragon, and I stole this sparkly ring from your palace! You’ll never get it back now,” he said dramatically, flipping his hood over his head as he ran out of the room. 

Stumbling a little in her high heels, Madi chased him, eventually abandoning her shoes in the middle of the hallway so she could catch up. 

They chased each other through the house, hiding in random closets and dipping through the massive rooms. 

The ring got passed back and forth. It was very beautiful—precisely the kind of ring a princess would wear. 

Hiding behind a door, Madi slipped it on her finger, admiring the way it sparkled in the light. It was far too big for her, but it was the prettiest jewelry ever. 

She’d never seen her mom wear it, so it must be new, or extra special. 

Jordan sprung out from behind the door, scaring her a little bit as he tried to grab the ring from her. But she ducked under his arm, pumping her fist in the air with her victory until she ran directly into her mom’s legs. 

“Oof,” she exclaimed, rearing back and falling onto her butt, the ring flying out of her hand and landing on the carpet. 

Behind her, Jordan also skid to a stop, eyes widening when he saw Clarke. 

All three of their eyes went directly to the ring. 

***

  
Without a word, Clarke carefully bent, picking the ring up from the carpet. 

She’d walked into quite the scene. 

Jordan was wearing one of Bellamy’s hoodies, it covered his entire body, reaching past his knees, and his hood was pulled up, the drawstring scrunched around his face. Madi was in one of her flowy sundresses with a messy smear of lipstick on her. 

They clearly looked like they knew they’d been digging around where they weren’t supposed to. 

It was cute—honestly, it was the kind of thing she would’ve usually taken a picture of. But her mind went completely blank the second she saw the ring. 

It looked like an engagement ring. 

But—

“Where did you find this?” She asked, holding it up with a raised eyebrow. 

“In daddy’s suitcase,” Jordan said sheepishly, tugging on one of his drawstrings. 

Clarke smiled, not wanting to freak the kids out, but internally she was losing her mind. 

She didn’t want to jump to any conclusions. There were a million reasons why Bellamy might’ve had a ring like this in his suitcase. 

“Well, it looks pretty important, so why don’t we go give it back to him? We wouldn’t want him to think it was lost…” she continued, trying to keep her voice even. 

The walk downstairs was the longest distance of her life, the ring weighing down like lead in her palm. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could barely think straight. 

“Hey, Bell,” Clarke called, turning into the kitchen to see Bellamy feeding Auggie small pieces of banana. 

But before she could say anything, Madi and Jordan both started talking at once, rambling about dragons and princesses and games. 

Bellamy understandably looked confused. 

“What—“ he began, cutting himself off when Clarke carefully set the ring down on the counter. 

“They’re trying to apologize for stealing this out of your suitcase and using it to play dragons,” she explained, biting her lip to keep a laugh from bubbling out. 

“Princess and dragon mommy,” Madi added, furrowing her brow when Jordan told her to be quiet. 

But Bellamy laughed, a genuine, deep laugh—one that reminded Clarke of the night they’d talked about their kids for the first time. 

“Well, in that case. You need to apologize to Clarke, not to me. That ring is for her,” he said, kneeling down, so he was on eye level with Madi and Jordan. 

Clarke froze, his words sinking as she finally let herself believe what she’d known since the minute she laid eyes on the ring. 

Bellamy wanted to marry her. 

“Mommy, this ring is for you! It’s a princess ring!” Madi exclaimed, bouncing up and down as she looked between Bellamy and Clarke. 

“I told you your mom was a princess, Madi!” Jordan said, grabbing Madi’s hand so he could jump with her. 

“Do you guys know what this ring means?” Bellamy asked, picking it up and turning it in his palm. 

Clarke felt like she was frozen, like she was existing outside of her own body and watching her life unfold from a distance. 

Both kids shook their heads “no,” so Bellamy continued on. 

“This is an engagement ring. It means that I’m asking Clarke if she wants to be my wife. If she says yes, that means we would all become one big family,” he said, sneaking a glance at Clarke as he spoke. “But before I ask her. I want to ask you both too.” 

In two steps, he was standing beside Clarke, and he reached out to take her hand. 

“Madi, would it be okay if I asked your mom to marry me?” He asked, bending down to her level. 

Madi nodded, eye welling with tears as she threw her arms around his neck. 

He hugged her tightly, and Clarke thought her heart might actually explode. 

Without her noticing, Jordan ended up at her side, and she reached out to take his hand in hers. 

“What do you think Jordan, would it be okay if I asked Clarke to be part of our family?” He asked, keeping his arm around Madi as he turned to face his own son. 

Jordan nodded too, wiping his eyes with the floppy sleeve of his sweatshirt before reaching out to take Bellamy’s other hand, bridging him in the middle of them. 

Finally, he turned to face Clarke, and at this point, she was crying so much that it surely wasn’t a pretty sight. 

From this spot kneeling on the floor, with Madi wrapped around his torso and Jordan holding onto his hand, he held out the ring. 

“I know this is all crazy. But you make my world better. You are the missing piece I needed all this time. You, us, this family. It feels like this was where I was always supposed to be. I never ever thought I would get this lucky again. I know this is fast, but why waste time when it feels so right,” he said, looking up at her with an expression so full of love that Clarke thought she actually might explode. “Will you marry me?” 

“Yes, yes, absolutely yes,” she sobbed, tears flowing freely as she bent to kiss him, hand still holding onto Jordan. 

This year has been both the best and worst of her life—it brought a lot of terrible and scary changes, but it also gave her the most beautiful gift. They were a family, and she was going to get to marry her favorite person in the world. 

From his high chair, Auggie squealed, and they all started to laugh. 

“Of course, Auggie bear, we didn’t forget about you,” Clarke giggled, pressing one last kiss to Bellamy’s lips before she pulled away. 

“You gotta put the ring on!” Jordan exclaimed, pointing to it where it still lay in Bellamy’s palm. 

Putting Auggie down beside Madi, Clarke held out her hand, allowing Bellamy to slip the ring gently onto her finger. 

It was a perfect fit. 

Now unencumbered, she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him over and over again as he spun her around. 

“This wasn’t what I had planned, but this is way better than anything I could’ve come up with,” he murmured against her lips. 

“It was better than perfect. This feels like us,” she smiled, kissing him one last time before she settled into his arms, hugging him tightly as the kids gathered around their legs. 

And it was the truth. 

If this year had taught her anything, it was that life isn’t perfect, but it’s the messy parts that often turn out to yield the strongest bonds. 

***

  
“Madi, are you awake?” Jordan whispered, staring up at the ceiling. 

“I am now,” Madi answered groggily, turning so she could face him. 

Auggie was between them still sound asleep, but Jordan could still see the outline of Madi’s face in the dark. 

“The stars are magic, you were right,” he said, beaming as he looked out through the window. “Our wish came true.” 

Even in the dark, he could see Madi’s smile. 

“I love you, big brother,” she whispered, reaching out to take his hand. 

“I love you too,” he replied, squeezing hers back. 


	2. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HUGE thank you to @fan4life for requesting this absolutely adorable addendum to this fic! This was such a joy to write.

Bellamy wrapped an arm around Madi, spinning her as she giggled. The boys jumped up and down by his legs, blowing their noisemakers until their sparkly party hats were slipping off their heads. 

“Again! Again!” Madi squealed, kicking her legs until she was spun again. 

This continued on and on until the boys grew tired of watching and bounced to the kitchen to check on Clarke. 

Honestly, Bellamy hadn’t expected the kids to make it to midnight, but here they were at 11:30 in high spirits. 

All of them had insisted on dressing their best, with the boys in the suits that Clarke’s stepdad had gotten them for Christmas and Madi in her favorite twirly dress. 

Despite the occasional yawn, everyone was wide awake, ready to ring out 2020. 

It’d been a tough year, one of the hardest in memory, but it also brought Bellamy a type of joy he’d never thought he would feel again. 

Last year he’d rung in the new year alone, with a beer and his sister on FaceTime, the boys fast asleep in their rooms. He’d spent all night wondering if he should text Clarke, whether he should wish her a happy new year. They’d barely known each other at the time, and he’d toiled over it longer than he should have. Eventually, at 12:06 am, he’d sent her a Bitmoji—and then spent the next twenty minutes internally cringing until she responded, wishing him a happy new year and calling him out on his Bitmoji usage. 

They’d talked for almost an hour, and it felt like the start of something big. 

But now, with his step daughter’s arms wrapped around his shoulders and giggles drifting in from the kitchen, in a house that felt warm and full of love, he couldn’t believe how big it all actually ended up being. 

“Happy new year, dad,” Madi chirped, squeezing Bellamy so tightly around the neck that for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. 

Hearing her call him, dad would never get old. As long as he lived, it would never cease to amaze him that this kid deemed him worthy of being her dad. She’d chosen him, and that made it feel even more special. 

He hugged her back, pecking a kiss to the top of her head before he explained once again that it wasn’t New Years' yet. 

“But when is it going to be New Years,” Madi pouted, crossing her arms as Bellamy set her back down on the carpet. 

“Thirty minutes,” Bellamy chuckled, pointing to the giant countdown flashing on the TV. 

“That’s an eternity,” she groaned, sprawling out on the plush rug like a starfish. “Why is it so far away?” 

He snorted, chuckling at her theatrics. It was incredible what constituted an eternity in a five-year-old’s brain. 

In a way, she had a point. There were definitely times when it felt like this year might go on forever, that they might be trapped like this until the end of time. But there were also moments where he had so desperately wanted to stop time. 

“Because we have to take the time to appreciate everything that we’ve been given this year,” he explained, sitting down beside her. 

“What did this year give us?” Jordan asked, flopping down beside Madi and patting the carpet for Auggie to join them. “School on a laptop?” 

“And paw patrol masks!” Madi added, poking him in the side. 

“Paw patrol!” Auggie exclaimed, clearly very excited about his contribution. 

Clumsily, Auggie followed their lead, rolling around for a beat before settling with his head pillowed on Madi’s leg and his arm resting on Jordan’s knee. It didn’t look the least bit comfortable, but it was sweet. 

“Hmm, I can think of a lot of things this year gave us,” Clarke smiled, emerging from the kitchen with a smudge of chocolate on her cheek. Dusting her hands off on her skirt, she settled in the space between Bellamy’s legs, her back lining up perfectly with his chest. 

He let himself sink into the moment, rest his cheek on top of her head as she explained the concept of gratitude to their kids. There wasn’t a moment that went by where he didn’t fall more in love with her, and this was no exception. 

The way she spoke to the kids, gentle and intentional, no dumbing down, just the truth. 

He loved her more than he ever thought possible, so much so that it overwhelmed him sometimes, that in the span of a year, he could feel so strongly about someone. 

Deep down, he’d known from the moment he met her and more so from the moment she’d told him that she had a kid. But it felt good to be right about something for once. It was a rare occurrence in his life that things seemed to go according to plan. 

“Who wants to start?” Clarke continued, drawing one of Bellamy's hands into her lap. “Let’s all share something that made us feel grateful this year.” 

Jordan drew his lip between his teeth, deep in thought, before he shifted up on his elbows and volunteered to go first. Always an older brother at heart. 

“Hmm, this is stuff other than Momma and Madi, right? Because I’m grateful for them, but there’s other stuff too,” Jordan asked, smiling shyly. 

Clarke untangled herself slightly to reach out and smooth down Jordan’s hair. 

“Yes, baby, we’re all the most grateful for each other. Our family is the most special part of this year,” she said warmly, running a thumb against Jordan’s cheek as she pulled away. “But why don’t you share a memory, maybe? Something from these last couple of months? It wouldn’t be very fun if we all said the same thing, even if it’s true.” 

With a pensive nod, Jordan paused, lost in thought as he considered what his memory would be. 

“Okay, I think I’ve got one,” he said, playing with one of Auggie curls as he explained. 

***

  
“Welcome to Jordy and Clarke’s cooking show!” Clarke announced, waving a sign in front of the camera. 

“Christmas edition!” Jordan added, moving the Christmas logo to the bottom of their sign. 

He’d been looking forward to this all week, especially after his dad took him to Target to get elf pajamas. They’d even bought ones for Clarke. For Madi, dad, and Auggie, they got reindeer ears. 

Jordan thought they looked pretty good, almost like real elves. But their audience didn’t really look like reindeer, even after Madi colored in their noses with her mom’s lipstick. 

His sister didn’t understand that there couldn’t be three Rudolphs. The point of Rudolph was that he was the only one. But she was excited, so he decided not to tell her the truth. 

Just for today, there could be three Rudolphs. 

“In this episode, we’re making magic elf bars!” Jordan announced, waving toward the bags of M&M and Rice Krispies that Clarke was showing the camera. 

The audience didn’t cheer like they were supposed to—but thankfully, Clarke wiggled her eyebrows at his dad and made him remember. 

He liked having her around, a lot more than he thought he would. At first, it was weird to have someone other than his dad making dinner and reading them stories, but now he couldn’t imagine their family without her. Sometimes it felt like Clarke could understand what he wanted to say without him having to say it, that she wanted to follow the rules and make things perfect, just like he did. It was special like he and Clarke had a language that nobody else could understand, not even Madi. 

Together they made the elf bars, a recipe they’d found on the iPad, and decorated them with the red and green M&Ms his dad helped Jordan pick out at the store. 

Auggie helped them with some of the decorations, too, until he tried to stick one up his nose, and Clarke put him back in the high chair. 

“Are we allowed to try one now?” Jordan asked while he helped wipe down the counter with a wet rag. 

His dad and siblings were watching football in the living room, but part of cooking was cleaning up. It was an important responsibility, so he didn’t mind helping. Plus, he didn’t want Clarke to have to do it all by herself. 

Clarke looked between the stack of treats on the table and then back at Jordan, a small smile forming on her face. He knew that smile. It was the one she gave him when they got to have a special secret just the two of them, like on their drives to Starbucks after the doctor or when they rolled down all the windows and sang to funny music. 

It was a smile that made Jordan’s heart happy, one that made him feel like this was something he should remember, even if he didn’t know why. 

Holding a finger to her lips, Clarke tip-toed toward the plate and grabbed one of the elf bars super quick before she ran back toward him and waved for him to follow her behind the counter. 

“Don’t tell anyone we had this before dinner, or they’re going to get jealous okay?” She whispered, handing him the bar as she turned to pour them both small glasses of milk. 

When she came back, she broke the bar in half and gave him a piece. Jordan knew she gave him the big one, and he knew he should be happy—but he wanted her to have the bigger piece. 

One time, his dad had told him that loving somebody meant wanting to do nice things for them without wanting anything nice back. 

And that was what he wanted for Clarke. 

He loved her, kind of like a mom. 

But Jordan already had a mom, even if she lived in heaven now. 

And he didn’t know if it was against the rules to have two moms. 

Nobody ever seemed to tell him rules like that. They only told him rules like no running at the pool and to floss his teeth before bedtime. 

This felt like a much more important rule. 

Maybe Clarke would know the answer. She knew a lot of things. 

So he asked her, and then she dropped her Rice Krispie treat on the floor. 

Jordan picked up the treat, and when he looked up, Clarke looked like she was going to cry. 

“Was I not supposed to ask that question? I’m so—“ he started, embarrassed that he’d made her upset. 

But she hugged him before he could finish, squeezing him so tightly that he almost dropped their dessert again. 

Jordan hugged her back because he loved hugs from Clarke the best, she smelled like flowers, and she always scratched his hair the way he liked. 

“Of course you can ask that question, baby,” she said to him, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “But the answer is up to you.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“If you have room in your heart for two moms, then I would feel like the luckiest mom in the world to be one of yours,” she explained, flashing him another smile. “But since you already have a mom, you could call me something else?” 

Jordan reached out to smooth Clarke’s hair, just like she always did for him when he was about to cry. He knew that they weren’t sad tears, but he hoped it would still help. 

He tried to think of all the words he knew that he could call Clarke, but he couldn’t come up with anything that felt right. 

“Can you help me think of something?” He asked, hoping she would know the right answer—like always. 

“Hmm, well there’s mommy, and there’s momma, or ma, and if those don’t feel right, we could ask your dad if there’s a Filipino word for mom?” She suggested, listing off the options on her fingers. 

Jordan thought about it, but he knew that they didn’t need to ask his dad because momma was the perfect thing to call Clarke. 

“I think I want to call you momma, if that’s okay,” he grinned, liking the way the word felt when he said it and liking even more that it made Clarke smile. 

“That’s more than okay, that’s perfect,” she replied, hugging him again and pecking kisses to both his cheeks. 

There was more than enough space in his heart for his mom and his momma, and his dad and Auggie and Madi too. 

***

  
Clarke tried to hold back tears as Jordan finished his endearingly clumsy retelling of one of her favorite stories. They had a lot of good moments this year, and she never expected Jordan to choose their cooking show as the best one. 

And God, she loved him like he was her own...and she was lucky to be his momma. 

She held out her arms, and Jordan climbed into her lap, hugging her close and resting his head against her shoulder. 

“I love you,” she whispered, kissing the top of his head and willing the tears away. She knew it would only make him worry if she cried, even if they were happy tears. 

Jordan kissed her cheek back and whispered, his own I love you, not leaving the cradle of her lap as Madi jumped to tell a story of her own. 

From over his head, she caught Bellamy’s eye and could see he was tearing up a little too. Even if he hadn’t been there in the kitchen, it was a special moment for them both. 

“Okay, my turn! My turn!” Madi announced, springing up from her place on the rug and bouncing up and down. 

***

  
“Jordy, wake up,” Madi whispered loudly, smacking him with her stuffed bear. 

It always took forever to get Jordan to wake up. 

So she tried again, on the brim of exploding from all her excitement. 

“Madi, no, I’m tired,” he groaned, pushing her bear away, but she just prodded him harder. 

But she was determined to get him to have fun with her, even if he was a grouchy Jordy right now. 

So she climbed into his bed with him, l her bear tucked under his arm. 

Usually, this worked. All she had to do was nudge him gently until he woke up on his own. 

But his bed was so cozy, that she snuggled under the covers and pushed her brother over so she could lie on the pillow too. 

By accident, she fell asleep, but thankfully, she woke up again when it was still dark out. 

Hopefully, Jordan would be more awake now. 

“I promise it’s a cool surprise,” she whispered, poking Jordan again. 

And this time, it worked. 

“Fine, but we have to get a snack,” he grumbled, grabbing his stuffed rabbit as he followed her off the bed and into the hallway. 

“We can get puppy chow from the kitchen. I know where my mommy hides it,” Madi agreed, taking his hand, pulling him down the stairs, trying her best to be quiet as they crept through the house. 

She knew if their parents woke up, they would have to go back to bed, and that wouldn’t be very fun. 

Walking on their top toes, with the light from a princess pen that her dad got her for her birthday, they snuck into the kitchen.

They managed to get the puppy chow out of the bread box and put some in a bowl, hiding it back behind the bagels so her mom wouldn’t notice. 

“Okay cmon,” Madi said, thrumming with excitement now that Jordan had his snack and they could finally get to the surprise. 

“When are you going to tell me what this is?” Jordan asked around a mouthful of powdered sugar, still sounding a little sleepy. 

“It’s hard to explain. Just follow me,” she said, irritated that her brother didn’t seem very excited about her surprise. Sometimes he could be so grumpy for no reason. It was Christmas, he really needed to be happier, or Santa would find out. 

But despite his protests, he did follow her, handing her pieces of puppy chow as they snuck from the kitchen to the living room. 

“I do this every year,” she continued when they finally got past the stairs, sitting down beside the Christmas tree and waving for Jordan to join her. 

He nudged her to make room, following her lead as they laid on the ground with their heads tucked under the branches. 

Madi squeezed her eyes shut tightly and opened them, taking in the lights, the shiny ornaments, and strings of tinsel.   
It looked like magic. 

Beside her, Jordan gasped after he opened his eyes, adjusting his glasses on his nose as he took in the tree magic for the first time. 

“Wow!” He whispered, turning to look at Madi with a broad smile. That was the Christmas excitement she’d been hoping for. 

And Madi’s heart felt happy, that for the first time ever, she had a brother to do this with. For as long as she could remember, it had just been her and her mommy. And that was their family, and Madi loved it. But there were things that you could only do with a brother or a sister, and now she had Jordan to do them with. 

Even when he was grouchy, or he took her toys or fought with her, he was still her best friend in the entire world. 

The Christmas tree magic was special. It was her thing that she’s discovered and never told anyone else about it. But she could trust Jordan with this secret. It was their family secret now. 

Next year they would tell Auggie about it, but he was too little right now. 

***

  
Bellamy chuckled at the trail of powdered sugar they’d found in the kitchen, the one that they’d never been able to trace back to anyone. 

It all made sense now. 

But extensive clean up aside, he loved that the kids treated each other like real siblings, that they thought their family was worthy of secrets and traditions. 

Even if Madi had technically spilled the secret to him and Clarke just now, it didn’t seem like either of the kids noticed. 

Both of them seemed too enraptured in trying to explain the whole thing to Auggie, who just seemed confused. 

“That was a good one, Mads,” Bellamy grinned as Madi twirled her skirt and plopped back into her spot. “Do you have a happy memory Auggie?” 

He knew that the question wasn’t direct enough because Auggie just tilted his head and wrinkled his nose. 

Curly-haired, wide-eyed, and adorable as always. 

“Do you remember what we did at the farm?” Bellamy asked, probing his son toward the answer. They’d been talking about farms and farm animals a lot lately, so it felt like a good memory to rely on. 

Auggie beamed when he understood, “Au-ee, dada, mama, Jojo, and ma-eee,” he said proudly, pointing at himself and then each person. “Go get da tree.” 

To further his point, Auggie hauled himself up and walked toward their still intact Christmas tree, pointing at it. 

They all cheered, and he clapped, taking one of the round ball ornaments off. He carried it back to his place beside Madi, snuggling his head in her lap and cradling the decoration like a baby. 

Clarke choked on a giggle before she quickly recovered, hiding her smile behind Jordan’s head. 

“I think it’s your turn,” she said, tilting her chin toward Bellamy. 

And well, he’d be banking on her going first, but he had to admit, he told the story better. 

***

  
“Are you sure we’re doing the right thing?” Clarke asked, wrapped in a fluffy white robe, barefoot, hair wet as she looked at him in the mirror. 

Bellamy came up behind her, picking up a nearby brush and combing through her damp curls. He knew it was crazy, but everything they’d done since March was certifiably insane. There was no point in applying the rule of sanity now. 

All he knew was that the woman standing in front of him was his future, that there was no part of his life that he wanted separate from hers. 

But as much as he wanted to be married to her today, she deserved to have the wedding she’d always dreamed of, and if that meant they had to wait and plan for when there wasn’t a pandemic, that’s what they would do. 

And he told her as much as he brushed through each section of her hair, taking the time to apply the serum for her afterward. 

“No,” she said firmly, turning and taking his hands in hers. “The idea of waiting that long…it just...it doesn’t feel right, and it doesn’t make sense. Not for us.” 

Bellamy smiled, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. 

“I’m in if you’re in,” he murmured, barely pulling away before he dove in again. 

And she kissed him back, more fiercely this time before shifting it into something softer, gentler. 

“I’m in,” Clarke nodded, pressing their foreheads together and meeting his gaze before she pulled away and turned to keep getting ready. 

But her eyes found his again in the mirror, and she winked. 

“We’re getting married today,” she said, lips tilting up in a smile. 

On this exact day, December 5, one year ago, they’d talked about their kids. Going into the date, Bellamy thought that she might break up with him on the spot, that it might be the last time they saw one another. He never, ever expected, that he would be marrying the girl of his dreams on the same day, 365 days later. 

“We’re getting married today,” he repeated, kissing her shoulder one last time and left to go make breakfast. 

He found the kids kneeling by the front door, which was strange in itself until he realized they were all crowded around an iPad. 

But before he could begin to address what they were doing, the answer came in the form of his sister and her entire family barging through the door. 

“Hey big brother, heard you’re getting married today. Thanks for telling me,” Octavia teased, wrapping Bellamy in a bone-crushing hug. 

“How—what—huh,” he stammered, so completely caught off guard he could barely form a coherent sentence. 

“A little birdie told Olivia, who told me. So, of course, we all quarantined for two weeks and drove all the way here from Texas without stopping,” she explained nonchalantly, gesturing between Madi and her oldest daughter. 

And the emotion of getting married, of seeing his sister after what felt like years apart, it all came through at once. 

“It’s so good to see you,” he said, finally returning the hug and lifting Octavia off the ground. “You’re crazy, but I love you.” 

The house quickly devolved into chaos as seven kids ran around, thrilled to finally have social interaction outside of their families, and Clarke emerged from their bedroom to find the surprise of a lifetime. 

Bellamy wasn’t sure whether his sister and his wife getting along like a house on fire was a good thing for him, but he did love to see them get to know each other. 

It never felt right that the two most important people in his life (outside of his children, of course) hadn’t met, and now, the last piece of the puzzle clicked into place. 

Octavia was horrified to find out that they’d planned on turning in their marriage certificate and having a small, legal ceremony. 

Even in a pandemic, that was apparently unacceptable. 

“Technically, I’m ordained,” Lincoln shrugged, pouring himself another cup of coffee. “Took a class and everything.” 

“How has that never come up before?” Bellamy asked, incredulous, but Octavia had already moved on to discussing logistics with Clarke. 

In true Octavia fashion, in the span of three hours, their backyard has transformed into a winter wedding wonderland, and the kids were fitted in the best cold weather formalwear Target could provide. 

A Christmas miracle. 

So instead of in a courthouse, Bellamy and Clarke were married under an array of twinkle lights, with their kids by their side and the faint hum of a Nat King Cole Christmas album in the background. 

It was simple and beautiful and nothing like they’d envisioned. But in the year where everything seemed to go wrong, it felt like an oddly perfect moment. 

At the end of the day, the wedding itself didn’t matter—what it signified was so much more important. Today was a promise to spend the rest of their lives together, a promise to build a family that loved each other, to not just push through the bad times but to find beauty in them. 

And as Bellamy danced with his new wife in the kitchen, to a Taylor Swift song from 2012, surrounded by pizza boxes and all the people he loved most, he knew that this was the start of a beautiful life together. 

***

  
There was more to the story, but they were interrupted by the countdown. 

Only ten seconds till the new year. 

Ten seconds left of the worst year in recent memory for their country, but also a year filled with small things that reminded them of why life was worth living. 

They’d found love in one another, family, healing from loss, all things that felt unimaginable when the clock struck midnight one year ago. 

Almost a full year spent inside the house, that at times felt deathly claustrophobic but at others felt like the safest place on earth.

“Happy new year!” Madi screamed, blowing her noisemaker. 

“Happy new year,” they all replied, showering one another with kisses and hugs and I love you’s. 

Whatever 2021 held, they would do it together. 

As the kids cheered their glasses of sparkling apple cider, crowding around the cake Clarke baked, Bellamy took his wife’s hand and pulled her in for their first real kiss of the year. 

He couldn’t help but think back to that stupid Bitmoji he’d sent her. 

They’d come a long way. 

***

  
With the kids in bed and the mess from their party in the living room cleared up, Bellamy and Clarke sat on their back step, looking out into the backyard as snow fell lightly. 

“It feels kind of anticlimactic, doesn’t it?” Clarke laughed, shoving her hands in her coat pockets as she scooted closer to his side. 

“It always does,” he agreed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his body heat. “But I’m excited to see what this year holds.” 

Clarke nodded, resting her head on Bellamy’s chest. 

“To easier times, full of new memories,” she said, clicking her plastic cup of cider against his. 

He watched the bubbles in the glasses fizzle before he took a sip, the sickly sweet apple flavor sticking to his tongue in the best way. 

“You never shared your favorite memory from last year,” Bellamy realized, setting down his cup so he could hold her hand. 

“There’s too many to choose one, but I think I have one that nobody else came up with,” she replied after a long pause, playing with his fingers. 

He wondered which one she would choose, beyond the obvious choices of their huge life milestones. This year felt like it had been jam-packed with so many things, good times and bad, fights and hugs, and everything in between. There were so many times when he’d feared for the future, when he’d wondered what would happen next. 

The fact that they’d made it far enough to see the clock turn to midnight, to see the face of a new year, was a blessing in itself. 

“So...technically, this is a 2020 memory, for the sake of semantics,” Clarke said, playing with a loose thread on her skirt. 

And she seemed—nervous? 

Bellamy’s heart rate ticked up as she took a deep breath and gave him a shy smile, reaching into her coat pocket. 

The second he saw it, he knew. 

“A baby,” he whispered, already choking on the weight of the words, the emotion behind it, the hope for the next year that was embodied in this moment. 

“The last thing 2020 brought me, and the first thing 2021 is bringing you,” Clarke nodded, pressing the positive test into his hand. “I found out yesterday morning.” 

2019 had brought them one another, 2020 gave them a trial that made them a family, and now, 2021 held hope for the future beyond what they ever imagined. 

The Griffin-Blakes, soon to be a family of six. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wishing endless blessings, love, and health to each and every one of you as we move out of this very difficult year and transition into a new beginning. I love you all, the writing community has been such a light during this time and I am incredibly grateful to you all for that. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this one, I had a blast writing it!! Please let me know if you did because I love getting to know y'all and your thoughts! 
> 
> And as always if you are interested please check out @t100writers4blm it is a great movement for an important cause, if you feel called toward giving during this season, it is a great opportunity <3 
> 
> Be safe, be well, you are loved immensely!

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! This morphed into something totally different than what I set out to do, but I absolutely love it in every way shape and form. I hope you did as well, I had so much fun writing this and building this found family. Big thanks to @Elora-Lane for being the best and always listening and bouncing ideas when I hit a wall. 
> 
> I hope y'all liked this one :) Please let me know what I think, it always makes me so happy to hear from y'all. Your comments mean the world to me and I do this at the end of the day to help make other people happy. 
> 
> If you would like to request a prompt from me, you can find me on Tumblr @nakey-cats-take-bathss 
> 
> Love, love, love y'all.


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